Amit Mitra

NEW DELHI: Amit Mitra , who is tipped to become the next Finance Minister of West Bengal in the Trinamool Congress-led government, has resigned as Ficci Secretary General. Mitra, 63, emerged as a 'giant killer' by defeating CPI(M) veteran and state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta by a big margin from the Khardah Assembly constituency. His resignation has been accepted by the Ficci leadership, which said that it "wishes him all the very best for another historical...

NEW DELHI: As a major takeaway from West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's first meeting with PM Narendra Modi on Monday, the environment ministry has cleared the way for 43 projects - spanning coal, power, oil and steel industries - to take off in the state. The clearances, ranging from environmental nod to diversion of forest land, cover projects in the Central, state as well as private sector and would help kick-start industrial activities...

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took away commerce and industry portfolio from Partha Chatterjee and handed over the department to her finance minister Amit Mitra . Mitra will also run the finance department along with the key commerce and industry portfolio. Chatterjee, on the other hand will function as the minister for Information Technology (IT) and parliamentary affairs. Apart from trimming Chatterjee, Mamata also dropped her forest...

KOLKATA: The CPIM is in a tight spot over the attack on West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra in Delhi yesterday by some SFI activists in Delhi. Sensing that the incident is fast going against them and their activists are bound to face Trinamool Congress wrath, CPIM politburo, in a statement, has condemned the incident. Bengal CPIM leaders like former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Biman Bose had already condemned the incident on Tuesday a few hours...

West Bengal Finance, Industry & Commerce Minister Amit Mitra on Friday presented the state budget for 2015-16. In an exclusive interaction with ET's Atmadip Ray, he dwells on his blueprint for giving Bengal a facelift. Excerpts: How do you describe your budget? This budget touches the lives in every level of the society, including large, medium and small businesses, rural as well as the urban sector, and especially the rural...

KOLKATA: Congratulating the Aam Admi Party on their landslide victory in Delhi polls, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra today said this result will give a new direction, "if we see it politically". Speaking on the sidelines of unveiling of 54 new AC and non-AC buses of CSTC, Mitra said, this result was a "turning point" in democracy. He also said the result is thanks to the common man. People across the country everywhere be it south India, ...

NEW DELHI: Ficci will announce its new Secretary General tomorrow, the industry body's top post vacated by Amit Mitra who has become the Finance Minister of West Bengal. The selection of the Secretary General will be made by the Seniors Committee, comprising of former presidents of Ficci - Y K Modi, Rajan Bharati Mittal and Harshpati Singhania, in consultation with its President Harsh Mariwala. The announcement about the chamber's secretariat chief...

KOLKATA: Congratulating the Aam Admi Party on their landslide victory in Delhi polls, West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra today said this result will give a new direction, "if we see it politically". Speaking on the sidelines of unveiling of 54 new AC and non-AC buses of CSTC, Mitra said, this result was a "turning point" in democracy. He also said the result is thanks to the common man. People across the country everywhere be it south India, Bihar or else were...

KOLKATA: West Bengal industry and finance minister Amit Mitra today said that in the last three years the state was able to create real assets as is evident from the rise in capital expenditure. "Over the last three years of Trinamool Congress rule, there had been a rise in capital expenditure as well as plan expenditure in West Bengal," Mitra said at the AGM of Calcutta Chamber of Commerce here. This, he said, shows that real assets are being created in...

KOLKATA: West Bengal's growth rate was higher than the whole country's in the first two quarters of the current financial year, state Finance minister Amit Mitra said today. "During the first two quarters of the fiscal, growth in state domestic product (SDP) was higher than the national GDP ," Mitra told reporters after the pre-budget meeting with various chambers of commerce, industry and trade bodies. He said that data for the third quarter have not been computed...

KOLKATA: West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra believes that his counterpart in the UPA government, Pranab Mukherjee can work out a scheme to offer relief to debt-stretched states within the constitutional limit. ""There is a window available to the union finance minister to look into chief minister's request,"" Mitra said on Monday at a Ficci event in the city. The Finance Commission has identified West Bengal, Punjab and Kerala as debt-stretched...

SILIGURI: Promising all support to prospective investors in the state, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said that Ambuja Group and Keventer Group would invest in north Bengal. The government would create a fund of Rs 200 crore to support entrepreneurs in the region, Banerjee announced at a business summit "North Bengal Business Summit-2015" here. She said that the government had improved the power situation and road communication in the region. ...

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government today stressed on tying up with an Italian firm for high-end computer-based designing facilities for the state's gems and jewellery sector. "The gems and jewellery park at Ankurhati, Howrah has manufacturers, skill development facility and common facility for development of this important sector. But, now you must try to have a tie-up with an Italian company or institute for high-end designing facility which will help to take this...

MUMBAI: The government of West Bengal is determined to shed its anti-industry rhetoric and is ready to woo investors across the spectrum in its two-day long business carnival — Bengal Global Business Summit beginning January 7 in Kolkata. "Our best test would be the upcoming business summit," Amit Mitra , West Bengal finance minister, told reporters at a press briefing here in Mumbai on Friday. "We have improved our fiscal...

MUMBAI: The government of West Bengal is determined to shed its anti-industry rhetoric and is ready to woo investors across the spectrum in its two-day long business carnival - Bengal Global Business Summit beginning January 7 in Kolkata. "Our best test would be the upcoming business summit," Amit Mitra , West Bengal finance minister , told reporters at a press briefing here in Mumbai on Friday. "We have improved our fiscal position...

MUMBAI: Showcasing improvement in business sentiment, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today said the state has attracted over Rs 83,000 crore investments, including from leading corporates, during the last three and a half years' Mamata Banerjee government rule. "Contrary to general perception, West Bengal is riding on growth path. The state has attracted Rs 83,212 crore investment between April 2011 and December 2014, which includes...

NEW DELHI: Amit Mitra , who is poised to be a key member of Mamata Benerjee's government in West Bengal, stepped down as secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Wednesday, 17 years after he joined the industry body and helped it regain its premier position. FICCI's director-general Rajiv Kumar , an Oxford-educated economist who has worked for international institutions and the Indian government, is the...

MUMBAI: Showcasing improvement in business sentiment, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra today said the state has attracted over Rs 83,000 crore investments, including from leading corporates, during the last three and a half years' Mamata Banerjee government rule. "Contrary to general perception, West Bengal is riding on growth path. The state has attracted Rs 83,212 crore investment between April 2011 and December 2014, which includes investment in...

KOLKATA: West Bengal government supports GST but it wants the Centre to compensate loss of revenue for all states, state industry minister Amit Mitra said today. "In principle our government supports GST. In our election manifesto also, we had said we want GST. But the question is whether the state's loss of revenue will be compensated. 29 states, not only Bengal, have raised this as a problem," Mitra told reporters here. He said a...

KOLKATA: French Ambassador Francois Richier today said perception of investors about West Bengal was not the best one and no new French investments were in the pipeline in the state. "Perception that investors may have about West Bengal is not the best one", Richier told a news conference here. "There is one company from France having difficulties," he said citing the instance of a French company facing problems at Haldia. There are law and...